Now that I’ve bestowed all of those trade secrets, close the page and launch your own bicycle douchebag (same diff) web log.

Hey, so here’s something that kinda has to do with bikes, but doesn’t really, but kinda does.

At some point when I was bikecycle messengering on the mean streets of San Francisco during the mid to late 90s, I submitted artwork for consideration to several ‘messenger art shows‘. Without exception, my work was turned down citing that “it had nothing to do with bikes“.

‘Fair enough‘, I thought. If at some point I get inspired to do a drawing of a crank set, or a painting of a wool jersey, I’ll totally have a crack at one of these exhibitions. Needless to say I never did do a drawing of a crank set or a painting of a wool jersey for a myriad of reasons, so on the sidelines I sat. As bicycles became more visible and our culture became more populated, the number of these bike art shows grew. I suppose it was at some point in 2007 or 2008 that Brendt Barbur, founder of The Bicycle Film Festival sought me out to say that he’d heard I was involved in the visual arts and asked if I would be interested in submitting work for an upcoming show that was happening in conjunction with the festival.

Enthusiastically I agreed and forwarded on a number of links containing my work, as well as images of my newest pieces. In a phone call that followed he said that he didn’t understand the work because it didn’t have anything to do with bikes and as such, probably wouldn’t fit into the show. I explained that it had everything to do with bikes as I was the one who made it. With the exception of being an engineer, or importing and exporting them, I’ve been involved with nearly every facet of the bike world that one can be, and that alone is how the work I make relates to bikes.

The call concluded with a kind thanks but no thanks and we parted ways.

This got me to thinking about the skateboard industry, and the numbers of people involved in it who make music, art, films, shoot photos, or in some instances, all of the above, that don’t have anything to do with skateboarding. To that end, both Juxtapoz Magazine and Hamburger Eyes were born from that world.

What has the bike world brought to the table? Jim Kish, Paul Sadhoff and Chipps are all accomplished musicians. Jeremy Powers DJs… Rachel Lloyd sings, I think. (I’ve heard her sing the National Anthem a bunch of times, but I’d imagine there is more in her catalog than just that)… Besides a few others, off the top of my head, that’s about it.

But then there’s Antonio Columbo… He’s my guy. All he wants to do is make art, and promote art, and focus on his gallery… The bike end of things is his bread and butter, but he’s fully immersed in a whole other realm.

I touched on this topic briefly once here, but didn’t fully go down the rabbit hole as I am now.

So anyway, all of this has gotten me to thinking about the general state of myopia of the bicycle world. Don’t get me wrong- Events like Art Crank are great, and I count the impresario of the Art Crank kingdom, Charles Youel as a good friend.

But for me personally, and with over a decade rejections in my wake, I was hungry for something new.

That’s when (after after dozens of discussions with at least as many people, for an equal number of years) a final conversation between a riding buddy of mine and me occurred.

This riding buddy is named Paul Urich, and before he was a riding buddy, he was a mutual friend, who was neck deep in motorcycle racing. We’d see one another periodically at art shows or in passing, but it wasn’t until he discovered his love for the bicycle that our connection solidified;
While being no slouch on the bike, Paul is also hugely accomplished as an artist, and like myself, maintains a distinct separation between the two parts of his life;
The more we talked, the more rapidly the idea grew and finally after a perfect storm of conversations and random occurrences, I finally have donned my curator hat and organized the first (to my knowledge, anyway) show comprised of work by cyclists that has nothing to do with bikes aside from the hands that made it;
So yes, that is a locking/BB wrench poking out opposite of the paintbrush, and yes, it’s presented by Swobo (which pretty much means they’re buying the beer) but aside from that, there won’t be a crank set drawing or wool jersey painting to be seen for miles, and for that fact, I couldn’t be happier.

So please, if this concept strikes your fancy, swing by in a month’s time to say hello. The installation will be up through the end of March, so for those opposed to crowds, I’m sure Paul would be happy to open the doors throughout the two month run;
In the meantime however, and just to wet your whistle (if you’re into that sort of thing), Nowheresville’s reemergence into the SF art scene is occurring on the 18th of this month with a show called ‘NFS’, featuring work by Kyle Ranson, Jake Watling, Griffin McPartland as well as a number of other notable Bay Area artists (not including myself);
It’s simply furthering our efforts to showcase art which we don’t think sucks.

And now for a gif file that I’ve watched at least twenty times, each resulting in varying degrees of smiles;
Those two knuckleheads are always getting into some kinda shenanigans or another.

And it’s with that, that we run down the checklist of how to write a post.
1) Title
2) Vaguely relating image to said title.
3) Make fun of Florida.
4) Rant/story/random links.
5) Gif file.
6) Conclusion.
7) Nap.

15 Responses to “Insert marginally clever post title here.”

*During blogger training seminars, you may notice that the subjects of mr. Kinevil’s photos retain the tops of their heads. This is because partial photo decapitations are a tough skill to master. Let’s just focus on the basics today; you’ll be knocking people’s tops off in no time.

I find a lot of the art you post to be too thought provoking and sometimes even disturbing. Could you maybe tone it down a little? How about a nice picture of a bike wheel with a unicorn in the backround. That would be swell.

I really enjoy your art, Stevil. It’s a shame so many bike art organizers have their priorities so pinpointed on pieces with bike-only subjects, but I guess they’re really trying to cater to a super-specific niche. I put a small picture of one of your works into a frame -you sent it with one of the t-shirts I ordered- and that particular picture remains one of my favorites and it has nothing to do with bikes or bike culture. I like that it’s not about bikes, it’s about being human and having feelings and stuff. Keep doing what you’re doing, man. Haters will always hate, but there are lots of us who are pickin up what you’re puttin down.

This reminds me of how relatives and friends often give me birthday or holiday gifts of clothing items and other stuff that has a picture of a bike on it. I am always polite and accept the gift, but really, just because I like riding bikes doesn’t mean I want all my t-shirts and hats to have bikes on them. Kind of like that ‘Portlandia’ skit where they “put a bird on it”

I think the big difference between the skate world and then bike world is that riding a bike for the most part isn’t really a creative pursuit in the same way that Skateboarding is with the exception of some types of bmx riding. Bmx is of course akin to skateboarding and seems to have some associated art and culture similar to skateboarding and can be a more cerebral thing.

It’s just that Mountain biking, cyclocross road riding and what have you all attract a much broader crowd that seems to be on the whole less interested in art and creative pursuits in the same way that most of the world doesn’t actually give a shit about art other than to pay lipservice to it. I dunno maybe that’s a negative view but I’m a jaded former punk with a stupid desk job who likes to ride bikes.